Positive Press

The Tuskegee Airmen were African American flyers in World War II. They were famous for their daring exploits, and some even won the Distinguished Flying Cross for their valor and achievements in the war effort.

In my new book in progress, White Fences Black Stars, we follow three fictional African American men, Gerard “Gooch” Oswald Charles III, Heath Carter Jeremiah, and Wilkinson Thomas, as they journey through a real American history of the Negro baseball leagues, peppered with fiction to illustrate the facts.

At one point, the war breaks out, and some of our heroes sons are drafted into service, one becoming a Tuskegee Airman. While searching the internet to research the book, I happened on this excellent photo of some of the storied group. I then sketched the photo crudely, and if it is not too, too amateurish, I might include the sketch(es) in the future book release.

Here is an excerpt from my book:

On board the private, blacks-only bus, Gooch, Heath and Wilkinson passed around the block of cheddar. Each one of them had a pocket knife, and they took the cheddar as it came to them, peeling off a few good size hearty slices. Next came the meat, a nice dry salami that wasn’t too expensive; they repeated the routine with their pocket knives and as the bread had already passed around, they laid their meat and cheese on the bread, slathering a bit of mustard on the thick wheat loaf sections first. 

Heath Carter Jeremiah liked mayonnaise more than mustard but mayonnaise would spoil and they didn’t have a refrigerator, so the mustard would have to do. They each noshed on a few of these sandwiches and then got ready to turn in. 

They were riding on a long bus trip to North Carolina, where they would be playing in an all black baseball game. It was 1892 and the world was very different. They should have had better conditions given their talents and devotion to the game but with segregation, Jim Crow and other racist mechanisms, the sandwiches and the bus ride were as good as it would get for decades…

Here is a link to my Amazon Author Page